Untold History 2: Politics of the Faiths
by Aviarianna O Lorien
Summary: (SEQUEL to UNTOLD HISTORY!) "Well...there's never a good time to say this so...Someone tried to kill you last night." "...WHAT?" After the events of Untold History Avaria is finally on the road to recovery but its a bumpy one. Kurama's over-protective, Hiei is a little TOO interested in her, and Yusuke plays bestie. Together they'll finish what those bastards began.
1. On Give Me My Damn Food Kurama!

**Untold History: The Politics of the Faiths**

AN: I told you there would be a sequel. Remember THIS STORY IS A SEQUEL TO THE ORIGINAL UNTOLD HISTORY PLEASE READ THAT STORY FIRST. I also suggest reading UH: The Good Ole Days too, it's about Kurama, Kuronue and raising Avaria, it's mostly meant to be funny. Thank you!

*Also, just so we're clear, Avaria never finished the series...I read the entire manga and own the entire Anime plus, Poltergeist Report. Timeline wise I may be going more manga than anime, possibly adding extra months or such. You've been warned. Okay, moving on now. *

Chapter 1: On Give Me My Damn Food Kurama!

"Do you still remember how to use these?"

Chopsticks. The "these" in question was a pair of normal, everyday...Chopsticks.

"Uh yes…."

"Are you sure?"

"OH, my gods yes!"

"Are you absolutely positive?"

"I swear to freaking Inari ni-san…."

"I'm only making sure, I can easily get you a fork."

Avaria's right eyebrow twitched under the bandages that still covered the upper right side of her face. Make no mistake she missed her big brother and all but this was getting ridiculous. She growled, short on patience and with a warning note to her voice. "Kurama….I was stabbed through my stomach, not my brain!"

"I know dear…" he winced slightly at the reminder, giving a split-second glance to her abdomen. Right now, she was still mostly covered in bandages under her borrowed clothing.

"So please shut up and give me the ramen!"

"Oh, all right, spoil my fun." He relented with a fond smile. Which she totally missed because the second the tray was in her lap she was tearing into the first real food she'd been allowed to have in weeks. Kurama watched his sister with a keen eye, chuckling quietly to himself as she ate now much as she had when she was little. Which to put it mildly was pretty much the same way Kuronue ate, learned by pure example. Messy, slurping noodles, splashing broth everywhere, and trying to subtly avoid the vegetables.

See Also: The way Yusuke Urameshi shovels food into his mouth.

Of course, she wasn't so little now, was she. She certainly seemed a lot smaller, up close, wrapped up like a mummy, the clothing he'd loaned her far too big. The ferocity they witnessed when she was being ripped apart? For now, it seemed to have vanished, though that might have simply been the ungodly amount of demon level pain medication she was on. And beyond the matter of her healing, some parts taking a lot longer than others, was the matter of her body re-acclimating to this universe once more.

**Two Weeks Earlier**

"It's called the Chameleon Effect." Koenma stated. Avaria had begun going through small changes, regressions of a sort, mostly in the form of severe migraines. The prince had come to visit now that she was awake and he couldn't take another day looking up codes and guidelines and former examples of...whatever the hell had been done to her when she was a child.

He needed a break before his eyes dissolved from the strain.

" When a being from one universe attempts to settle in another one, parallel or otherwise, it can go one of two ways." He held up one finger as the others in the room watched him closely. " One: The universe can do everything in its power to forcibly expel the intruder who doesn't belong or..." And here he held up a second finger. " The universe will embrace the new person, and that person will undergo changes that will allow them to fully integrate with their new world. You'd actually be surprised how common place this second option is. "

"Uh huh...but I'm not actually NEW...I was BORN in this universe..." Avaria stared at him curiously, she had a point.

"Well that is true... Which means that you'll be experiencing a more intense version of option number two. An option you probably went through before when the Powers nabbed you. I bet they made damn sure the universe wouldn't expel you too. There are always some exceptions to every rule, and you are one of them. Long story short the energies at work in this universe are going to bring you back to the way you SHOULD be. " Koenma smiled apologetically and Avaria narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him.

Kurama sat on her other side and mulled Koenmas words over for a few moments. It didn't take a genius to grasp this concept but he helped his half-drugged sibling along. He nodded to Koenma and his own smile turned apologetic as he turned to his sister. " You're going to change from the form you had in that world, to the form that will fit this one, the form you were actually born to grown into. And it's probably going to hurt."

"A Lot." Koenma added, which only earned him a double dose of Youko level death glares. (Avaria had learned this expression at a very young age, making Kurama VERY proud.)

"That... was not helpful." Kurama sighed.

"I know!" Koenma just grinned, patted Avaria very gently on her less injured shoulder, and left.

****Back to the Present****

Avaria definitely felt like a child again and it wasn't just because she was seriously drowning in a spare set of Kurama's PJ's. Seriously, she wasn't exactly small to begin with yet somehow her big brothers stuff still swallowed her up. Her nails barely showed from under the cuffs of the tops long sleeves which hung off her shoulder almost like an 80's style sweater. The drawstring pants were even worse, she had them cinched up tightly with the bottoms rolled up about 3 inches. This healing thing was taking way, WAY too long and she was really worried about her eye. There was a great deal of serious damage that had been inflicted. When a doctor tells you they "did all they could do" that usually means they couldn't fix everything, didn't it?

Some damage as it turns out... would be permanent.

"Are you done?" Kurama asked, noticing she'd stopped eating and gone quiet.

"Huh? Oh...yeah, yeah I'm stuffed!" She grinned at him, holding up the tray with shaking arms. She smiled like it wasn't a big deal but the weakness in her limbs were frustrating. Dr. Nataka had said she still needed to rest and she wasn't allowed to do anything for herself. She wasn't even allowed out of the Rekai medical ward yet. She had a private room, and Kurama expressly volunteering to take care of her. Which was nice but sometimes awkward and embarrassing.

Like a few weeks ago when she'd insisted on having a nurse help her to the bathroom because she wasn't allowed to put any weight on either leg. One was healing from so many breaks the x-ray had looked like a hundred-piece jigsaw puzzle. The other one had so many sets of stitches she could have passed it off as one of Sally's from that Tim Burton film. When she'd protested Kurama would have none of it.

"I changed you're diapers Avaria..." He had said with a pointed look.

She could not argue this point.

So, she didn't. She'd been a very highly intelligent and aware child, perhaps not Hiei's extreme level of advancement but somewhere up there. Kurama and Kuronue had indeed changed her diapers, potty trained, bathed and dressed her for the first several years of her life. She didn't really know any of the nurses very well yet either, so she swallowed her pride and let him at the least help her to the bathroom. He politely waited outside the door for her every time until she was able to put weight on her legs which only took a week.

As of now she could put weight on her legs again. The muscles were weak and atrophied, the same as in her arms but at least now she could go to the damn bathroom by herself. Little victories people, take then where you can get them. Kurama took the tray from her and replaced it with a cup of dark green/brown tea. At least it looked like tea, honestly, she wasn't sure what it really was other than "medicine". Kurama's version of medicine.

"Ew..." She wrinkled her nose in disgust at the bitter, yet sickly sweet scent that rose from it. "I really have to drink this stuff again?"

"Yes, you do." Kurama sighed, she'd always been a little terror when it came to taking medicine. "It helps you regain your strength, you know this."

"Yeah but...it smells like rotting roses and chicken liver..." She made another face.

"And it tastes even worse. Yes dear I know, you said that yesterday and this morning." He gave her a look that clearly stated he was getting annoyed with her stalling. "Take. Your medicine. Avaria."

"...eep." she squeaked at the cold gaze and gulped it down as quickly as she could. When she handed him the now empty cup he had a smile that was as sickly sweet as the tea had smelled. She shuddered, he was still as scary as ever when he wanted to make his points. She had personal experience in this matter and she happily chose to down it under her own power.

Then she went quiet again.

She had a theory she wanted...no she NEEDED to test it out. Stuck here in this room, in this bed, with no money, no belongings, barely a claim to her own life. Thank the gods Reikai didn't run off insurance, she'd never be able to pay back this hospital bill. Pulling herself back from that tangent with some difficulty she studied Kurama side-ling from under her messy hair which was slowly reverting back to its deep, dark almost rusty red hues. Avaria needed to confide in her brother the other reasons she knew exactly who he was that day in the dust covered room when he made his promise.

And why she already knew Kuronue was long gone.

Why she hadn't been surprised to see Hiei.

Or Yusuke.

Or Kuwabarra.

This was not going to be a fun discussion.

" Hey...Ni-San?"

"Hm? What's on your mind kitten?" He set the tray and cup aside to be washed out later, her voice had gone quiet so he settled again and gave her his full attention. "You can speak freely here you know. You can tell me anything."

"I know...I just...don't know how to broach the subject..." She bit her bottom lip hard picking at the blanket as the little rush of fuzzy warmth from the old nickname slowly left her. Ni-Ni, that little toy, that little, stupid, life line of a toy sat on her bedside table staring at them with his glinting gemstone eyes. Briefly she glanced at the toy, then back at Kurama, doing her best to keep eye contact which honestly was hard with only one currently working eye.

"Is this about Kuronue's absence? I'm sorry but-" He started but she cut him off.

"He's dead, I know...I mean, of course if he was alive then by now he'd probably be beating down the gates demanding to see me too but...I mean...I know...I _knew_ a long time ago." She caught herself as she started babbling and stopped, taking a deep breath to steady herself. To the side the heart monitor picked up speed just a little.

"How exactly did you become aware of this?" Kurama tilted his head to the side, naturally suspicious.

"Multi-verse theory."

"That explains exactly _nothing_ Avaria."

"Well...yeah...but it's the main thing. I got pulled into that universe and they locked away my memories and they stuck me in Gabes care and then they planted me in some random host family and..." She sighed and turned a serious, tired look onto him. " When I get out of here, take me to the human world and I'll show you something that will blow your mind if my theory is correct. Because the world I got shoved into was...They liked to refer to it as the 'The Hub'."

"All right..." He nodded at her to go on.

"There, it's sort of the central universe? I guess? Ugh how do I explain this without sounding crazy!" She gripped the blanket so hard she ripped a three-inch gash into it. She was only weak by demon standards." Gah...sorry..."

" Okay... okay..." Kurama grabbed her hands and made her look him in the eyes, the deep green was soothing and there was just the tiniest flash of comforting, familiar gold. " What's your theory? Start from there."

"There's going to be a manga in this world and I can promise you, it's going to be about my Organization, maybe even about me, but not ME, me, it's going to be about the person I was in THAT world. I can guarantee it, because even though they took my memories and locked them away, I found manga in THAT world about this one! And it's not just this one...there are...there are so many worlds...so many creatures...I know I'm not the only person they did this too...I KNOW I'm not..." The genuine sincerity in her voice stunned him almost as much as the declaration had. Right now, he needed to focus on calming her down, at this rate she was going to hyperventilate and open up the internal wounds again.

That tea had better start kicking in soon.

She was correct, of course. That theory and the reasoning behind it sounded absolutely crazy. At least it would have had she not been talking to a former demon thief, sitting in the medical ward of the Spirit World after having been brought back to life, after dying in literally an entirely different universe. These factors all made her seem a little less crazy than she would otherwise sound and the truth was...There were even demons, rare as they were, that could trans-dimensionally travel. Legends, rumors and the like about travelers and strange worlds beyond their own had always persisted, always circulated.

Her story wasn't actually that far-fetched.

It wasn't even that uncommon.

"I believe you." He stated, squeezing her hands gently before releasing them. "As farfetched as it sounds, look at where you are and what you've been through. Think of the old stories we used to tell you."

"And what you and everyone else in your group have been through, the Travelers Legends..." She hadn't thought about those stories in YEARS..."I know a lot of stuff and I know Kuronue died. Though I guess I don't know everything you know? I know only what was in the books and I uh..." She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly but the truth was it had been a personal issue once the memories had started coming back. "I didn't finish the series..."

"Hm..." Kurama nodded, humming in thought as he considered her words, watching the rapid blinking as the tea he'd given her hit her system fully. He'd mull over what she'd told him later, bring it up to the others and see what they said.

"So... Ni-San...Tell me what's been happening?" She yawned, suddenly very tired but in need of knowing when she'd come back home to. That and she just wanted a bed time story like when she was little. That thing about little victories? Same goes for comforts, you take then where and when you can get them, especially if you grew up like a demon thief in training.

"Well...I met Yusuke, I suppose, not long after his resurrection. The first one, of course. …" Kurama began as if he were telling her a bed time story. As the tea relaxed her and she fought sleep, as she'd always fought bed time, he did his best to tell her about everything up until the present time.

She'd missed the Dark Tournament. (" The Toguro brothers sound even scarier in person..." "They were quiet disturbing to watch...and listen to, yes.")

Yukina was STILL looking for her brother. ("If I vow to Hiei I won't tell her, can I meet her?" "You'll need to ask _him_ that." "...I'm good.")

And of course, the whole Mushiyori City Psychics thing. (" Uuuugh I wanna meet Master Genkai too..." "She would like to meet you as well." "...Say what now?")

"Which led us into our most recent battle with Shinobu Sensui...Come to think of it, Itsuki was a Dark Stroke..." Kurama mused, noticing she could barely keep her eyes open as he finished speaking. A Dark Stroke is what they called those aforementioned demons with the ability to traverse dimensions freely, a rare but very much existing breed. It had also been the reason he'd even been in the Makai _that_ day.

The day they'd found each other again across space and time.

If only for a moment.

"Sensui...poor..." She yawned wide like a kitten. "Bastard...He's as far as I got." She reached for Ni-Ni as he sat on the table and snuggled with his little plush body under the hospital blankets. Kurama chuckled, watching her sink into the warmth of herb induced dreamless sleep. She had a great number of nightmares that this potion easily kept at bay so she could heal faster. He stood, tucked the edges of the blanket around her shoulders and took the dishes and tray out to be washed.

He decided then to take a walk around the hospital wing, thinking over what she'd revealed. It was almost comical the way things lined up but he supposed that's the way things like fate work. She'd fallen asleep before he got to the part about Yusuke and his demonic atavism, though he suspected she knew that already. He'd never considered that a Dark Stroke might have been used in the endeavor so long ago but looking back it made perfect sense. After seeing what Itsuki had been capable of it really wasn't a far stretch to think another of his kind had been somehow involved.

But who?

And... What now?

Feeling confident enough that she was safe from the Powers in this place he wondered as he took his walk. Koenma had found about a dozen examples of people being taken, but the information was basic and the details scarce. From what she'd said earlier, perhaps she could fill in some of those blanks, maybe she knew things the prince didn't even have a clue little princeling was still digging away in the deepest depths of the archives even now. Yusuke and Kuwabarra both were back in the human world and Hiei?

Kurama smiled, Hiei knew what it was like to search endlessly for a sibling. He even knew what it was like to find out that they were trapped, and in trouble. For once this babysitting detail didn't completely irk the fire demon. It helped that Hiei knew that he could pop off plenty under the excuse of giving Kurama and Avaria their "sentimental privacy".

My how people change.

Speaking of everyone's favorite, fiery, short-stack, he snuck back into the private room while the fox was stretching his legs. Kurama may have let his guard down enough to think this place was safe but Hiei wasn't fooled. Glancing at the demoness in the bed he sighed, the scene itself was almost cute which made him curl a lip in disgust.

Almost, because someone else was in the room with them.

Hiei was correct in his paranoia. With his speed he latched his hand around the wrist of a nurse he'd never seen before. Silently he squeezed her wrist until the bones popped and she dropped the syringe she had been two seconds away from injecting into the saline drip. With a tone as cold as the eyes he regarded her with he spoke. " This is a _private_ room and you are not the attending nurse nor are you the good Dr. Nataka."

She regarded him cautiously, unmoving and silent. She was dressed in the same garb as the other nurses but her aura was all wrong and Hiei was right. She wasn't actually one of the staff, but she wasn't going to admit that to him or to anyone else. Her aura flickered rapidly, her image watery and flickering with it as if she didn't have a complete hold on the image she was trying to project. It didn't faze the shorter demon in the slightest.

"I don't generally suffer fools..." He continued, staring at her with his unwavering expression. "For now, though, I will make an exception." His face twisted into a nasty look, eyes burning, full of blood and fire and the promise of darkness and painful death. "This is the only warning you will get. Tell your masters that this girl does not belong to them. If they choose to continue seeking to do her harm, it will be seen as a personal attack on us all."

The woman shuddered and disappeared as soon as Hiei released her.

Message received.

***Chapter Fin***

What was I'd said about the first Untold History? Oh yeah...this ain't your mamma's OC story. The continuation is nothing short of the same. But with more sibling interactions. And I'm going to be working iun a lot more humor as well. Much like with the Prequel which I suggest reading. Reviews are highly appreciated, thank you for reading!


	2. On a Permanent Lack of Depth Perception

**Untold History: Politics of the Faiths**

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, characters or otherwise. I do own Avaria, she's mine and the non-manga/anime plot line concerning the faiths is my concept.

AN/Possible Trigger Warning: The main reason everything for this series of tales is rated M is the dark turns things will take. You've been warned. There will be violence, there will be mentions of death, there will be mentions of suicidal thoughts and/or actions, drug use, all sorts. You've been warned.

Chapter 2: On A Permanent Lack of Depth Perception

Hiei decided his presence was necessary after that first attempt on Avaria's life. As much as he respected the skills that people of a professional career in killing obviously had to have, he had no love for them either. Long distance kills lacked honor and decorum, what was the point if there wasn't actually any fight. People should at least have a chance to prove themselves _worthy_ of death.

Poisoning a defenseless woman in a medical facility was just plain cowardly.

Cowardice was unforgivable.

The wielder of the Jagan didn't mentioned the incident right away. He tried tracking the odd aura of the woman but she had utterly disappeared. Not just from the hospital but if he focused hard was unable to discern that other than the tiniest trace still left in the hospital room her aura was just…gone. As if she'd never existed outside that room and barely existed when she was standing in the middle of it. That was trivially concerning.

Quickly and with care he picked up the syringe and capped it, setting it aside. He studied the dark purple liquid closely, nose wrinkling at the bitter smell seeping through the glass. Kurama would most certainly know what it was but he was loath to ruin the peaceful atmosphere just yet. He was fully aware that stress would hinder healing and that girl still had some ways to go. Instead he took up a closer watch and patrolled the hospital more closely. He'd break the news in day or so, after making damn sure he really couldn't track that damned assassin down first.

*** Two days later***

"…. I'm afraid I may not have heard you correctly Hiei…" Kurama's tone was pleasant but his eyes swirled gold, betraying the real danger.

"You heard me fox." He sighed, annoyed by the over-emotional reaction. "I did not want to say anything until I made absolutely sure I had every fact I could hunt down."

"Someone tried to KILL her Hiei, again!" The fox's voice began to rise but he quickly composed himself, smiling through the window at Avaria. She was getting the eyepatch off today and he didn't want to startle her, knowing she could hear as well as any of them. "You should have told me immediately. Her safety is of the utmost importance, you know this."

"I didn't leave her vulnerable. I haven't left the actual hospital grounds." Hiei glanced upward towards his third eye in a meaningful fashion. "She's perfectly safe."

"…If you say so." Kurama was loath to acquiesce but Hiei had a bit of a point. It also wouldn't be likely they'd try again so soon after their first failure. The gold slowly diminished down to it's hidden flecks within the deep green of his human forms eyes, Kurama calmed and nodded. "Do you still have the poison they were attempting to use?"

Hiei simply nodded and handed over the cartridge of liquid. Kurama immediately went wide eyed, the bitter scent and the dark purple liquid something he'd known well. He growled, barely able to stop himself from crushing the vial. It was a potent poison made from berries of the Makai's version of the Hemlock plant. Even just getting the liquid splashed onto your skin could cause a horrible burning rash, fever and in lower class demons, or children, death if left untreated.

If ingested it was even worse. It would cause the same burning acid rash, a fever that would burn for several hours then give way to attacking the nervous system. The final stage would cause seizure of the lungs which would then suffocate the victim. There was of course an antidote but if not given with 24 hours of ingestion or exposure the only outcome was death.

"…This is Makai Hemlock." He growled, the gold flaring once again. Not only was this rare poison horribly painful, this was done on purpose. When Avaria was very small she'd been exposed to this stuff and nearly died because of it. He shuddered, looking away as he remembered the way her then tiny little body had writhed, the way she'd wailed and whimpered as the rash burned.

That had been the first time he'd ever felt terror in his life.

And guilt.

"I take it you've experience with this plant…" Hiei stated, not asked. Judging by the fox's reaction it wasn't a pleasant experience.

"She almost died from my own negligence concerning the berries as a child, yes."

"Hn..." Hiei couldn't really respond to that, so he didn't. Instead he nodded towards the door, holding his hand out for the little vial of liquid death. "I'll dispose of it."

As soon as Kurama handed his shorter friend the vial, he was gone. It took him a moment to compose himself. These Powers were cruel indeed, using the same thing that had almost taken his sister's life before. It concerned him even further that they would have known about that, but they were celestial powers. Of course they knew…he growled and ran a hand through his unnaturally red hair. No sense worrying about it now, right now he had a sibling to support.

He took a deep breath then entered the room.

"Ni-san! Just in time!" Avaria's voice was light, trying to hide her nervousness as the nurses slowly unwrapped the gauze from around her head. When the patch came off, she blinked rapidly and frowned. Already she could tell something was wrong with her eye. "…How does it look?"

"Hmm…" The ophthalmologist that they'd called in donned his head gear and gave her a full examination. "It's healed up nicely but there was a lot of damage to the optic nerve and the retina itself. I'm afraid however there isn't anything else we can do at this point. The fact that you've managed to keep 30 percent of the vision is a miracle."

"Wait this is it? I don't have any peripheral at all!" She closed her good eye and tried to see only with her right but everything was distorted, like a mirror with cracks going through it. Her voice was a low squeak when she spoke next. "This is the best it's going to get?"

"For the right side, yes but you're left eye is as good as it ever was. I know it will take some getting used to but you'll adapt, and your left will eventually begin to compensate for your right as well." The eye doctor patted her shoulder gently, voice reassuring. He'd seen this before plenty of times as a tournament doctor.

"Great…." Her voice sounded as though she felt like it was anything BUT great.

"Don't worry Avaria, I'll help you as much as I can." Kurama replied. He spent a moment more talking with the doctor before he left. Finally, he turned to her and gazed into both her bright orange, feline eyes. "One: no, outwardly I can't tell anything is off with your eye. Secondly…Well there's never a good time to say this is there. It would seem two days ago someone tried to poison you in your sleep."

"…. WHAT?"

**Somewhere in Schrodinger's Space/Time**

Here dwelled the Powers That Be.

Deep within a space between space and a time far removed from its own concept was...well, it was a space. It both existed and did not exist, depending on the needs of the beings permitted entry. It was the Chambers of the Nine, the place where the Council of Nine resided when they were not wandering around their various realms of existence. Whatever was needed, the chambers would provide, like the long hall in which three celestial creatures and one demoness now inhabited.

"Please…"

That assassin Hiei stopped? Her masters, three of the Council of Nine that made up the beings known as the Powers That Be, were not happy with her in the least. Dressed impeccably, standing tall and stern they stared down at this supposedly highly skilled assassin. They'd granted her the power to evade any detection or tracking, provided her with the poison, even provided her with a door directly into the room! Still she'd failed!

Now she was on her knee's begging for her life.

Two men and one woman stared down at her, not a single one of which was actually human. They looked human enough but they didn't smell human, they didn't feel human ...The were humanoid at best. These were the three responsible for the shadier dealings, like stealing people from their worlds to replace people in others. Usually these things went off without a hitch but this time they'd someone had fucked up and poor, poor Toda was about to pay for it.

Toda, of the Disappearing Flame, had failed them. Except the truth was that they had failed long before having to "stoop" to hiring someone to finish the job. Yusuke and Hiei had been completely correct back before the little mutt had woken up. They had wanted Avaria to die, permanently. The fact that she was still alive and kicking was almost insulting to the master planner that a certain member thought he was. So, like many people in positions of power and political influence... he blamed someone else.

"You _failed."_ The man's voice was as sharp as his features. The tailored navy suite was a stark contrast to his feral features. Dark, messy but stylish, dark eyes, sharp teeth and pointed ears. His cheekbones and slightly pointed nose screamed out "Nobility" in a classical sort of way. He was absolutely devilish, the glee in his eyes at the thought of getting to punish someone was bright and disturbing. He called himself Cain.

"No... No, it was just the timing!"

The middle being, vaguely female, stepped forward and tilted her head to the side curiously. Her eyes were pure white and they glared down at the hired killer. She grasped the females chin in a bruising grip so she had no choice but to meet that absent gaze. The woman on her knee's trembled. The woman's voice was devoid of any ounce of life itself, like a frozen star was talking." She reeks of fear..." This one, her name was Linae.

Instantly Toda realized her mistake.

"It was the _timing?_ Are you saying _we_ failed, Toda? After all we were the ones that sent you there. Right at that very moment, that perfect moment." Cain stepped forward himself, taking his place beside Linae. The grin on his face was all teeth and no humor.

"No! No of course not! It was my failure!" Toda quickly tried to backpedal.

He grinned again, eyes flashing in... was that glee? "So, you admit that you failed to uphold you're end of the contract?"

"I... no...no I didn't...I mean...Please, give me another chance!" Toda swallowed, her aura flickered faster around her. The fear poured off of her in waves, it made the feral male close his eyes and take a deep breath of it. She glanced at the third person in the room, her last hope.

He had introduced himself as Drake. He was far older than the other two in his charge. He was in fact one of the original founders of the Council of Nine but such things were lost to legend long ago. His lizard like eyes stared at her, unblinking, without much care, he looked more tired than anything else. With a quiet sigh he ran a pale hand through his hair, pulliing the almost waist lenghth, dark teal strands out of his face. He really was getting tired of this game the other two seemed to enjoy playing so much.

" I don't care what you do, just leave me out of it this time."

Toda bowed her head as her last hope for survival melted his way into a shaodw and was gone. She would find no mercy in this place.

"What shall I do with her Cain?" Linae didn't really care one whit what Drake thought about this or said. She was mostly involved out of sheer boredom and curiosity.

He ran a hand through his long dark hair casually, as if bored by the entire ordeal already. "Dispose of her as you see fit Linae. "

The woman who seemed to be made of frozen star light smiled and it was the most terrifying sight Toda had ever seen. She let go of the demon-womans face and stood back, surveying her with a bit more interest, the wide, ghoulish grin still present. " Are you sure you don't want to help Cain? It's been a while since we had fresh meat around here..."

"That is true..." he turned thoughtful for a moment then shook his head, smiling fondly. " No, I think I'll just watch this time." A plush seat popped up ut of the darkness and he took a seat, crossing his legs casually and propping his chin on his open palm.

"...What...?" Toda muttered to herself, they were treating this like it was an interesting show on TV! This was her life! Seeing Linae distracted the woman with her flickering glamor images hopped to her feet and took off running in the opposite direction.

Cain's sinister laugh out through the seemingly endless darkness. As much as she ran, as fast she could go, she never seemed to make any progress. The darkness stetched out before her and behind her the two Powers laughed again. " Go on Linae, have your fun."

" I intend too." The only warning Toda had was a burst of icy wind behind her. A thousand blades made of what seemed like frozen light pierced the fleeing assassin from behind. She went down immediately, both Achilles tendons severed, shards shattered her knee-caps, they stuck out of her back, her arms, but not a single one had hit her head. The initial pain was unimaginable agony.

Toda screamed.

Cain laughed again.

Linnae took her time walking around the slowly growing pool of blood, so that at the least the little failure could see her feet. She knelt and caressed the dying woman's face gently, smiling softly at her. Toda tried to meet the woman's eyes but found that she couldn't move, a shard or three had hit her spine, she was paralyzed. She tried to speak but only a choking, gurgling sound came out from her failing, blood filled lungs. " Shhhhh now dear...Time to sleep now."

Toda slowly drowned in her own blood.

"Well..." Cain came to stand next to his partner in crime. " That was anti-climactic."

"Oh hush...we can't all take pleasure in ripping people apart." Linae huffed at him, showing emotion for the first time in hours.

"Now now, don't pout...I'm sure you'll get another chance." He smiled genuinely at her, leading the way out of the room.

" True...Clean up on aisle one!"

*******Chapter Fin********

I did say things might go dark. The Powers are...assholes. Cruel, manipulative, secretive assholes. At least these guys are. And the thing about Avaria's eye? Thats...thats sort of what Im going through. My right eyes is pretty shot, even though my left one recovered almost back to normal. Still require glasses now though, I hope it was engaging! Thank you for reading! Reveiws would be appreciated!


	3. On Yusuke, My New Best Friend! Part 1

**Untold History: Politics of the Faiths**

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, characters or anything else. I own Avaria and I won the Council of Nine.

Warning: Much like before…there is darkness that will twine around everything but this chapter is actually meant to be more funny and uplifting. I figured it was needed after the way the last one ended.

AN: Welcome to the third chapter. Quick reminder that if your still lost, this is a SEQUEL. Please go read the original Untold History first. I promise you won't be disappointed. As before reviews would be appreciated. I apologize the updates are starting to take longer, family drama is not a fun thing...When I'm not working, I'm house/dog sitting and worrying about who's going to end up in the hospital next...it's okay to disown family, right?

Chapter 3: On Yusuke, My New Best Friend! Part 1

"Ow…ow…Motherfucking OW…" Avaria groaned, laying back slowly onto her side still in the hospital bed, still in borrowed clothing from her brother. (She refused anything the Infirmary offered her which was either nightgowns or scrubs so…No, no thank you. I still have my pride.)

Her scalp hurt, her ears hurt and popped both inside and out, her spine popped and the skin right above her bum split. Her jaw clenched then forced her to open her mouth wide to try and stretch out the strain. Her entire body was just one big popping, crackling, muscle-ache infested, mess. She swore she could even feel her liver shift but that wasn't the weirdest part of all this.

Beep…beep…Beep…beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!

She felt her own heart, in her own chest...stop.

Now THAT is Grade-A-Disturbing.

Despite the flatline, Dr. Nataka who was standing by watching this all go down didn't panic. in fact, as he flipped a switch on the monitor and a new rhythmic beep sounded he looked almost bored. The monitor was now measuring her demon core instead of the heart that had stopped beating. "Just breathe, the pain will subside soon and I'm sorry, but you're maxed out on pain meds for the day."

"Seriously…?" she panted and then shut her eyes tightly as wave after wave of pulsing nausea rammed through her body. One thing every book, every movie, every comic seems to enjoy glossing over is how these transformations work. Well she could tell anyone who asks: they HURT. They hurt a lot! Her body was literally remaking itself into what it was supposed to be, instead of what the Powers had forced it to be in another world.

Scratch the "all" part...think the way a werewolf is usually portrayed when they shift: bones breaking, muscles and organs shifting, changing, snapping and re-attaching in places. It was pretty much like that. It was pretty much like that for a (not) good three or four hours.

With a scream, and a final set of muscle pops and bone cracks, it was over. She groaned again, tongue flying over four new canines, sharp as some big cats. She held her hands up to her face, studying her now claw-line nails closely before reaching up further to touch the top of her head. Her ears had shifted and moved, now large, black and fuzzy atop her head, twitching in every direction, catching every sound with double the clarity as before. She reached behind her, feeling the sore base of her newly sprouted tail, equally black and velveteen to her ears.

She grinned.

"I'm back!" She was overjoyed, this was the form she was supposed to have. She had been born with ears and tail and claw, it was almost euphoric to regain those appendages!

"Yes, yes, you're over this particular bump but you still need to rest." Dr. Nataka reminded her, gently getting her to lay back down in the bed. "I know it's not fun being cooped up here but until you're cleared, you're stuck with us. I promise it won't be too long now, PT just has to get you up to snuff." With that he gave her a pat on the shoulder and left.

Hiei quickly took the doctors place.

"Hiei? Where'd Ni-San...er, where did Kurama go?" She asked him, tilting her head to the side, ears shifting curiously. Not that she wasn't thrilled to see the fire demon, but she was used to her brother being around practically every single second these days. To be honest, Hiei was a nice change.

"The fox is coddling you." Hiei stated, blunt as he generally was.

"Well..." She wanted to protest the point, she really did but it was the truth. Kurama, after everything that happened had vowed to never leave her side again. "I can't actually argue that point..."

"I didn't think so."

"Can you blame him? You'd be the same way if Yukina was in this bed instead of me."

"Watch yourself woman." His voice took on the edge of a growl, Yukina would likely always be a sore subject. Avaria knew this but stood her ground, leveling her stare at him and remaining silent. Hiei felt a slight rise in his respect for her as she refused to back down or apologize. "Do NOT make me regret this."

"Regret what?" She blinked, her stoic face fading into a look of curiosity befitting those twitching ears atop her head. She didn't have to wait long as a rhythmic knock sounded at the door to her room. Hiei was quick to open it and Yusuke Urameshi sauntered in, tossing a backpack right into Avaria's lap. "Yusuke? What are you doing here?"

The detective grinned at her. "Go change loser, we're breaking you outta here for a while."

*** About twenty minutes later***

Avaria emerged from the bathroom, ignoring the fact that two males were still present as she reached down into her shirt. This bra was new and she was readjusting to make sure nothing was out of place. Whoever had given Yusuke the clothing was a godsend, the black, long sleeve shirt fit just a little loosely and the jeans were a decent fit too. Thankfully she had flats already and the underwear...she wasn't going to ask how anyone got her sizes correct, she figured she really didn't want to look that particular gift horse in the mouth.

Yusuke didn't bat an eyelash as she adjusted herself.

Hiei watched a little more intently than he probably should have.

Avaria continued to ignore them both.

"Ack!" Until he caught the black beanie as it flew towards her head. After eyeing it for a minute she begrudgingly flattened her ears to her head and pulled it over them. She'd managed to wind her tail through the belt loops on the pants so it looked like a furry belt but she wasn't happy to do I. She knew she had tio look human and all but it was still uncomfortable. "You know humans tend not to notice weird stuff anyway..."

" No chances, no one is to know you're gone from this room." Hiei replied, eyeing her sternly. She looked almost human, he was mildly impressed.

"Easy for you to say, all you have to do is wear a bandana." She grumbled back at him. Thankfully Yusuke stepped in before an arguent could start, they had precious little time to waste.

Kurama and Koenma kind of...sort of...had no idea this was happening.

"Oh, lighten up Hiei! As long as we avoid Kurama's area of town no one will know!" Yusuke grinned and grabbed Avaria by the wrist, dragging her out of the room.

"Just a few hours Yusuke! She has to be back, in this bed, before the dinner rounds are made!" Hiei reminded him.

"Yeah yeah! I got it! Yeesh..." And with that, he and Avaria were out of sight.

And out of the Spirit World!

**Run away Demoness**

Avaria grinned, trying to be careful about showing too much tooth now that her canines were bigger and sharper. The first place Yusuke took her was one of the forested areas on the outskirts of town, close to where he first met Hiei and Kurama. He knew what it was like to suddenly have al your senses sky rocket and figured this would give her a safe, secluded place to get her bearings. At the moment he might very well be the only person who really understood what she'd been thought; dying, coming back, huge, painful, bodily changes as her demon blood woke up from its several hundred years of dormancy?

Yeah...Yusuke knew how all that felt: it SUCKED.

He laughed openly as he watched her run around the clearing like she'd never seen tree's and sunlight before in her life. He knew she was probably testing her legs more than anything but still, it was fun to watch. " Geeze...haven't you ever seen green stuff before?"

"Oh shut up..." She blushed, stopping her rounds and breathing in deeply. "Everything smells so amazing...halfway between familiar and brand new!"

He just stared at her.

" I mean...it's different from the other world but it's also the same...and you know...I DID take trips to the human world with Kurama and Kuronue as a child. We were very open-minded thieves."

"Ha, nice to know you had a non-discrimination policy." He laughed again.

"Why thank you." She was actually quite proud of that fact. "So... Why'd you guys break me out of jail...I mean the hospital wing. I mean I can kinda see YOU doing it...but Hiei? How did you get him to help?"

"One: It was Hiei's idea and two... Because you needed it." Yusuke answered, for more seriously than she would have expected. "Hiei's right...Kurama is coddling you, you've been stuck in there for over a month now and he's been there practically every single moment of every single day... Look I get he's your big brother and all but seriously..."

"I know..." She sighed, sidling up to him and letting him lead her on towards the town. "I can't blame him, I really can't...well I mean I CAN if I really want to be that petty and spiteful, but I won't. He feels really responsible for everything and I... I don't have the heart right now to tell him to back off. Part of me doesn't want him to back off either. Does that make sense?"

"Ha yeah. It's that whole you don't know what you have until it's gone thing. You didn't know what you were missing, until you did." He gave her a two second, side-long glance. "Literally. Now that you have it back, it's becoming really annoying as it should for anyone older than ten but you know what it's like to NOT have it so..." He shrugged. "I guess it's a bit like after the battle with Sensui ended. I learned, for one thing, what it's really like to not have any control over yourself. And afterwards when I was still really pissed off at my ancestor for taking over, Koenma gave me the choice of staying in Makai or going back to Earth, like in a very permanent fashion."

"Was it a hard choice?" She tilted her head at him and for a moment he was caught offguard by the sincerity in her face, in her voice. She really wanted to know what he'd thought, how he'd felt at that moment.

It was true, so what if she'd only know these guys in person for a month and a half? In that time, they had treated her well, kindly, they had stayed with Kurama all this time, helping him and supporting him. Hiei had been guarding her constantly and thet had held deep conversations at 3 in the morning when she just couldn't sleep anymore and Yusuke would pop in constantly, turned out they had a lot in common and he always tried to make her laugh and more than ready to just let her complain and whine when she needed to. (Which was constantly...Hiei didn't care and Kurama took it all personally. Yusuke had started becoming a venting life-line.) If she were being honest with herself...

She felt like she had some real friendships forming here.

So when she asked him if it was a hard choice, she really wanted to know.

" For the first ten minutes maybe." He laughed at her confused blinking, all those serious thoughts getting pushed aside for the moment. " I sort of realized at that moment what was really important, like until that moment I hadn't even realized how much the very thought of never seeing my mom or Keiko or even this crap city again just...hurt. Telling off some ancient demon ass-hat just wasn't worth it."

She smiled a bit at that, he was definitely right. " Heh...you're such a sap Yusuke... You're totally right but definitely a sap. You better introduce me to everyone you know. I need more than a couple rowdy boys in my life."

Yusuke snorted, making the mature decision not to gloat about being right. "Oh yeah cause you're such a girly girl...Kurama told us stories you know." Yusuke grinned at her, almost evilly.

"… I can neither confirm nor deny a single word that was spoken about me by an elder sibling." She swallowed just a bit awkwardly. She was raised by two male thieves, cut her some slack man..."Although if you'd ever actually met Kuronue... trust me, it would explain some things."

The thought of Kuronue being gone sent a quick strike of pain through her core but she ignored it. There was nothing that could be done now and probably nothing she could have done then. Had she been allowed to actually grow up with them, it's very likely Kurama and Kuronue would have continued to be over-protective, maybe even made her stay home on that particular heist. *(Kurama had said it had been one of the riskier ventures they'd ever attempted. Obviously it was a little TOO risky...) Kurama had told her the whole story a few weeks back, she was ashamed to admit it but she was grateful she didn't have to witness Kuronue's death in the bamboo trap.

A nudge to her ribs brought her attention back to Yusuke.

"Oh really?" He rose a brow for a moment, noticing that quiet tangent her mind had taken but when she steadfastly refused to elaborate he snorted, falling back on snarky humor. "Uh huh yeah, sure, that's exactly what I thought. Well, you aren't the only one with some world class pick-pocketing skills."

" And just what, pray tell, does that mean sir?"

"It means we're going to go have some fun...\on Koenma." Yusuke pulled a card out of his pocket and held it up in triumph. That cheeky bastard had stolen the credit card of the Prince of the freaking Spirit World laughed, linking her arm with his.

Avaria laughed. "Yusuke Urameshi I think I like you!"

"Really? What if I told you we're going to an arcade?"

"Now I think I love you!"

***Schrodinger's Space Time*****

Drake smiled, it wasn't meant to be feral looking but being what he was he had very sharp, large canines. He was watching the two from his personal chambers in the Nine's, everyone's nickname for this anomaly of space/time that had existed as long as they had. Gods above, he could not remember anymore the first council, the first nine...was it even nine? He thought at first it may have only been three, before new worlds were added to the universe. Before more _universes_ had been added to the bloody Universe. He did remember a few things with exemplary detail though...

Her mother was one of those things.

One of those beautiful, wonderful, infuriating, fascinating... _exemplary_ things.

He sat in quiet contemplation for several moments, strong chin in an equally strong hand. He really was getting tired of the games these younger "Supreme Beings" thought they could play. Cain kept somehow "losing" the important players that were born to keep his realm together on the ground level, and Linae? That woman was just plain...there wasn't even a word for how disturbing she was. He had never been to her universe and frankly...he did not have any desire to see it either. Nope, nope and nope again.

You think you'd seen everything in your millennia's long lifetime then someone like THAT woman pops in.

He shuddered for a full minute, running a clawed hand through his hair. It hadn't always been this dark teal color, at one point it was a deep, dark, almost black sort of brown. His seclusion within the odd atmosphere of the Nine's had done something to it. Sometimes that happened, when you didn't really leave the place for a couple hundred years at a time. Or maybe it had something to do with the evolution of his other form...Drake was technically the first dragon to ever exist in any universe...a title he didn't actually give a good god's-damned crap about anymore.

Immortality had its drawbacks.

This however was not one of them. He smiled again as he saw the two young demons wander into the arcade, arm in arm and chattering happily. It seemed they were becoming fast friends and he was pleased by the development. He wasn't kidding about being tired of the younger members stupid games and inability to control themselves. Concentrating for a few moments he reached for a fast forming landline on his desk (How you can have a landline without actual land...or a planet...or...anything even remotely resembling a phoneline...he would never know but gift horses, mouths, blah blah blah.)

"Connect me to Koenma."

***Chapter Fin******

AN: So...as always...reviews would be highly appreciated...Ive literally got 0 on both this one and on Good Ole Days...it's a little...disheartening but oh well I guess. So... the plot thickens! Drake despite his young appearance is actually pretty damn ancient and well...you'll see. Review please and thanks for reading!

P.S.: I honestly don't know how balanced my posting schedule is going to be due to the family drama that is afflicting us right now. It's causing us all a lot of problems and frankly... when this is over...I'm seriously considering disowning what's left of my mother's side of the family. But I promise, I will not be abandoning these stories. You're continued support is appreciated more than you will EVER know. Thank you.

~Aviarianna O' Lorien


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